Image sensors capture only illumination, not color, by default.
Beam splitting
- A dichroic prism splits incoming light into primary colors
- A separate image sensor captures each separated beam
- Structure must be rigid and properly aligned
- Gives the same resolution for both color and illumination
Color filter array
Aka. CFA.
- An optical filter allows only one color per sensing element
- Other color components are estimated from nearby sensors
- Color resolution is lower than illumination resolution